Application streaming provides the ability for an endpoint (e.g., a client computer) to run an application locally that is stored remotely, for example on a server. The server transmits specific portions of the application (e.g., code pages) to the endpoint, as the endpoint needs them. Application streaming offers a number of advantages over running the application on the server. Streaming the application allows the application to execute locally on the endpoint, instead of remotely on the server. This eliminates the need for large farms of servers to provide applications to a plurality of client computers. Application response time to the user is also significantly faster when the application is run locally on the endpoint, as opposed to remotely on the server. Commercial application streaming technology exists today.
A network file system is a computer file system that supports sharing of resources such as files, printers and/or persistent storage over a computer network. Network file systems such as Andrew File System (AFS), NetWare Core Protocol (NCP), and Server Message Block (SMB, also known as Common Internet File System (CIFS)) exist today. Network file systems can share files, including executable files, between servers and endpoints.
An important performance measurement of a network file system is the amount of time needed to satisfy service requests. In conventional file systems, this time consists of a disk-access time and a small amount of CPU-processing time. But in a network file system, a remote access has additional overhead due to the distributed structure. This includes the time to deliver the request to a server, the time to deliver the response to the client, and for each direction, a CPU overhead of running the communication protocol software.
Both application streaming technologies and network file systems can be used to execute applications stored on a remote server on a local endpoint. When a server streams application content to an endpoint, the endpoint typically stores that content in a cache, so that the server need not retransmit duplicate application content to the same endpoint.
Current application streaming technologies and network file systems do not take into account which features of an application being transmitted for execution on an endpoint are most popular, and/or are being most frequently being utilized by the user. Where application content is already stored in the cache, the associated application feature(s) run much more quickly on the endpoint, as the application content is already present and does not need to be transmitted across the network. However no known application steaming or network file system technology attempts to dynamically track application feature popularity and real-time usage, so as to optimize application content transmission and cache management to improve the user experience.
It would be desirable to have application streaming technology and network file systems that do not have these problems.